Toy doll structures



July 12, 1960 E. D. O'BRIAN ETAL 2,944,368

TOY nou. STRUCTURES Filed Dec. 10, 1956 Ian/A20 D. age/4N, DELL M. MAL/67,

144547-51? C M/n'EMs-Q,

IN V EN TORS'.

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to manufacture. pp a J H r H: Because of the :natureof this invention it ,lsfnotfcon- United States, Patent j TOYDOLL'STRUCTURES Edward D. ?Brian, Anaheim, Calif. (5418. Spring St., Los Angeles 13, Calif); Dell :Malick, Whittier, Cahf. (417 S. Hill St., Los 'Angeles, C'alif. and Walter C. Whitteker, 9-12 -S. Brookhurst, Fullerton, Calif.

Filed Dec. 10, 1956, Sir. No. 627,188 4 Claims. in. 46-156) to the dolls by means of tabs or the like which are bent over the sides of the-doll. Const-ructions'of this category are disadvantageous for a number 'of reasons. The tabs employed are prone to break easily off during use. Also such tabs are not extremely effective inholding articles of apparel upon "a doll for a long period'especially as a child plays with a doll clothed with various apparel also suffer from. a number of disadvantages. The plastiw "cizer's normally utilized with the vinyl type compositions are prone to dry 'out after along period, efiectingthe ability of'clothes to be attached 'to theseidoll's. Ayoung child, such as, for example, a child of four or five frequently finds it very difii'c'ult to attach clothes "in precisely the desired location with this type of structure. Various other similar types of paper doll structures have been previously proposed. Some of these structures utilize magnetic 'a'ttachingmeans fo'r'holding'cloth- Such magnetic means are relatively expensive, and frequently tend to rust. Various "conven- 'tional snaps centrally located upon a 'dolljhav'e previ- 'ously been employed so ast o hold articles of apparel on a doll. All of these various types of structures "suffer from one or more disadvantages of either a commercial or utilitarian nature.

A broad object or this invention is to provide toy doll structures of the so-ca'lledpaper doll variety which overcome the principal disadvantages "and limitations ofthe aforegoing and related papertypeflofdollstructures. It,

will be realized by those familiar with t'he'fieldto which this invention pertainsthat theflterm toyfdoll structure as employed here is not limited to a. doll a1one;,"but designates a doll together with one or'more' 's of apparel which are manufactured so as to be used'withthis doll. A further object of this'invenit'ion'is t'o :pievidetoy' doll structures of a three dimensional or has r'el'iefjvari'ety which can be easily assembled which are inexpensive sidered necessary to set forth intlie' speai'fienian -a long Further, conventional paper dolls do not taffectively simulate the human figure inasmuch as they are 1 "i desired.

2 detailed list of other objects and advantages of the invention. Such other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully apparent to those familiar with the field to which this invention pertains from a detailed consideration of the remainder of this description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a toy doll formed in accordance with this invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are expanded views showing various articles of apparel which may be employed with the doll shown in Fig. 1;

. "Fig. 4 is a front elevational'vi'ew showing a doll as illustrated in Fig. 1 with various articles of apparel as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 placed in location on this doll;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken at time 5-'5 of Fig.. 4; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views illustrating the manner in which the toy doll shown in Fig. l and the articles of apparel shown in Figs. 2 and 3 may be manufactured and sold.

1 'In all figures of the drawing like numerals are used to designate like parts 'Wherever'convenient'for purposes of illustration and explanation. It is'to "be understood that this invention is not to be taken as being limited by the'accompanying drawing inasmuch as this drawing is primarily intended so as to clearly illustrate the essential features of the invention. Obviously for commercial purposes the sizes and shapes of dolls and various articles of apparel employed with these dolls may be varied within wide limits, and maybe colored in various manners as As an aid to understanding the invention it may be stated in essential summary form that it involves toy doll structures of the class briefly indicated, each of which structures include a has relief type of doll which is formed so as to have sides which are curved in such a manner as to extend in back of the front of the doll. A doll of this category is normally supplied with at least one article of apparel, this article being shaped so as to fit in a predetermined position upon this doll and so as to include a front and sides, which are curved so as to extend in back of the front of the article itself, these sides being designed so as to engage the sides of the doll itself in order to-hold this article of apparel in'a predetermined position. An article of apparel employed with this type of s'tructure is preferably formed out of a single piece of plastic material in such a manner that it may be easily and conveniently snapped'into position upon the doll. When so snapped into position the inherent resiliency of the article serves to firmly hold it in the location desired.

This type of struct-u' re is best more'fully explained with reference to the accompanying drawing. 'In Fig. 1 there is shown a doll 10 of the present invention which is formed so asgto have afront, such as is shown in Fig. l of the drawing and sides which are curved in such a manner as to'extend back to the front itself. Because of the nature of this doll '1'0,the'various parts of it are cs '24, a hat 26, "gloves 28,111

v3 parel are preferably formed so as to have sides curving around so as to extend in back of the front of each of these articles. Preferably each of these articles is shaped substantially to the shape of the corresponding po'rtion of the doll upon which it is designed to be mounted so that it may be snapped in a predetermined position upon this doll 10 by a relatively simple snapping operation involving temporary deformation of the particular article of apparel involved. It will be realized that each of these articles of apparel is specifically designed so as to fit within a predetermined position upon the doll 10.

These positions are illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing. Here there is shown the doll 10 with the various articles of apparel previously indicated snapped into place on it. When so snapped into place, all of the articles of apparel, 18 through 32, are held against a portion of the doll 10, so as to be incapable of being moved with respect to the doll proper. It is specifically to be noted that various of these articles of apparel, such as, for example, the skirt 32 extend from, so as to be partly spaced from, the doll 10. Thus, all of these articles of apparel can be manufactured so as to effectively simulate in the three-dimensional manner the form of an actual human being. This is quite important with the invention. It is also to be noted that the various articles of apparel employed with this invention have sufficient give so as to be capable of fitting over one another in the manner indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawing when the complete doll 10 is dressed with the various articles of apparel shown.

Obviously a wide variety of different apparel articles can be employed with this invention. The term articles of apparel is used here in a comparatively broad sense so as to designate not only conventional clothes, but various accessories such as, for example, ,new hair stylings, gloves, shoes, stockings, etc. as desired. Obvio'usly a number of substitutions and modifications of the articles of apparel shown can be employed. Thus, a

complete one-piece dress can be used instead of the blouse 2i) and the skirt 32. It is possible to dress the doll 10 without utilizing some of the articles of apparel shown, such as, for example, the bra 20 and the pants 22. Other articles of apparel besides those shown can be employed if desired. Obviously the doll 10 can be formed so as to be in any ofa number of different positions without affecting the basic concept of the invention.

A very important feature of this invention lies in the extreme simplicity of the manufacturing operations necessary so as to create a doll such as the doll 10 and the various articles of apparel shown. The operations necessary to accomplish this are indicated by Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings. Preferably in manufacturing the doll 10 and the various articles of apparel illustrated, as

well as the base utilized with this doll 10, a flat sheet 34 of any of a number of thermoplastic materials, such as,

for example, polyethylene, polystyrene or the like, is

printed or otherwise similarly colored substantially as indicated in Fig. 6 of the drawings in various colors and shapes, etc. so that different portions of the sheet 34 co'rrespond to the doll 10 and the various articles of apparel it is desired to utilize with this doll. Preferably during this operation, the sheet 34 is perforated or scored slightly so as to facilitate the removal of the doll 10, its base and the articles of apparel from the sheet after the manufacturing operations employed are completed. Such means can also be formed in the sheet 34 after these operations are completed.

After the sheet of material utilized has been printed in this manner, it is next subjected to a vacuum forming operation. During such vacuum forming operation the various articles of apparel and the doll 10 together with its base, are formed so as to-extend from the fiat part of the sheet 34 so as to assume the final desired shape for these parts. .It is considered unnecessary to specifi- 4 niques employed. Vacuum forming equipment and techniques are extremely well known at the present time. It is important to note, however, that in order to achieve the results of the invention, the sheet 34 must be formed into the shape illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawing so that the various articles of apparel and doll 10 have what are to be considered undercuts corresponding to the sides of these various parts. After a simple forming operation of this category, the entire sheet-like structure illustrated in Fig. 7' can be conveniently sold. Because of the nature of the material used in manufacturing this sheetlike structure, it is possible td dispense with conventional packages and the like. When this sheet-like structure is formed of any of the materials illustrated, it is sufficiently resistant to handling, weathering, etc. that no protective covering of cellophane, polyethylene or the like is normally necessary.

It is not to be assumed from the above that the doll 10 and the various articles of apparel shown must of necessity be manufactured in this manner. Obviously the apparel articles illustrated can be employed with other dolls besides the specific type of doll structure described in the foregoing, provided such other dolls are of a threedimensional or has relief variety employing undercuts. The particular type of structure and manufacturing procedure illustrated is considered preferable, ho'wever. Because of the fact that dolls manufactured as shown are curved they can be formed out of comparatively thin material so as to be sufi'iciently rigid for all practical purposes. Thus, such dolls are very light in weight and can be shipped for a very low cost.

It is to be noted that the sheet 34 may, if desired, be printed initially so as to contain various advertising legends, names, instructions, etc. around the doll 10 and the various articles of apparel illustrated. This is very advantageous for sales purposes. Of the various ma terials which may be utilized in forming structures of the these claims, this term is to be interpreted as defining-the corresponding structure illustrated and described in this specification or the equivalent of the same.

We claim:

1. A toy doll structure of the class described which comprises: a has relief type of doll formed so as to have a front and sides which are curved so as to extend in back of said front; and at least one curved article of apparel designed to be held in a predetermined position upon said doll, said article of apparel being formed out of a single piece of resilient material so as to have a front and sides, said front and said sides being shaped so that at least a part of said article of apparel is curved to the rear of said article of apparel in a shape corresponding to the shape of a part of said doll and is adapted to resiliently engage said doll so as to hold said article of apparel in said predetermined position upon said doll ,when said article of apparel is temporarily deformed and snapped into said predetermined position upon said doll.

2. A toy doll structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said doll and said article of apparel are formed outof polyethylene.

3. A toy doll structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said doll and saidarticle of apparel are formed out of a single sheet of thermoplastic resinous material.

4. A toy doll structure as defined in claiml wherein said article .of apparel is formed so that part of said article of. apparel extends from said doll so as not to be in engagement therewith when said article of apparel is 2,493,439 Braund I311. 3, 1950 in said predetermined position. 2,546,682 Wilhehn Mar. 27, 1951 2,789,391 Perry Apr. 23, 1957 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 FOREIGN PATENTS v 2,058,265 Selley Oct. 20, 19-36 345,014 Germany Dec. 3, 1921 

